Tag: Sailing Superstitions

This week we started the registration process for our boat with the U.S. Coast Guard. This paperwork is also the opportunity to change the current name of the boat as well as the hailing port. Right now, our boat is called At Last and the hailing port (shown on the back of the boat) is New Bern, NC.

The story behind At Last is very sweet. The previous owners met and married later in life, and them finding each other “at last” inspired the name. The only problem is, there are well over a hundred other boats on the east coast named At Last! Although its a great name, we wanted to rename the boat something that was meaningful to us and our journey.

We’ve had a couple of contenders over the past few weeks. I originally wanted Tabula Rasa—it means “blank slate”. I felt like it fit in multiple ways, mostly due to the fact that this is our first boat, we lack experience, and we have no idea what we are doing, so everything is new! A fresh start all around.

Conor nixed that idea though. His vote was for Transmogrifier. For those who are unfamiliar with the reference, it is from our favorite comic, Calvin & Hobbes. It is an invention of Calvin’s that turns one thing into another, fueled by imagination. The boat would be our “transmogrifier” as we turned our life inside out. I pointed out that no one would be able to understand us on the VHF radio, especially in an emergency.

So we were back to square one. At least we were unanimous on the hailing port. It will be Seattle, WA. We are pretty excited to see a little reminder of home on the back of our boat while we live so far away.

Then Conor pulled the most perfect name out of the blue: Story Time. It encompasses so many things that are important in our life together: my writing (both for this blog and my novels), our future family, and all of the amazing memories we will create on the boat to share with others. The name is simple, but evokes a feeling of wide-eyed childhood wonderment and adventure. There is nothing like getting lost in a good book and letting the real world fade away. This boat is our escape from the mundane.

What do you guys think about Story Time? My dad had his heart set on Docksmasher III, but I told him he would have to get his own boat for that. What would you name your boat if you had one and why?

When it gets closer, I’ll do a post on the official renaming ceremony that needs to take place to appease King Neptune. Sailors are a superstitious bunch, but we don’t want any bad juju out on the water!